Integrated curriculum: a contemporary innovation strategy in medical education

In its traditional form, medical education begins with learning basic science disciplines, with subsequent transition to clinical training. The basic sciences are taught as a series of separate academic courses, with no coordination applied at the inter-disciplinary level. During past decades, the integrated curriculum has become increasingly popular as a novel instructional strategy that promotes contextual learning in medical practice. The curriculum breaks down the barriers between basic and clinical sciences (vertical integration), interconnects teaching of various basic science disciplines (horizontal integration) and facilitates the acquisition of critical thinking, problem-solving and team-working skills through collaborative learning. The vertical integration is encouraged with training in clinical and communication skills starting in the first semester, teaching basic sciences at the interface with medical problems and involving clinicians in giving lectures on applied anatomy and clinical physiology. In order to facilitate the horizontal integration, basic science disciplines are taught concurrently within interdisciplinary units aligned around the body organ systems. This contributes to a better understanding of complex interrelations between structure and function and stimulates wider insights into mechanisms of the disease. The integrated curriculum supports conceptual learning rather than simple memorisation of fragmented factual knowledge. As such, it relieves the information overload imposed on students due to a rapid growth of medical knowledge in the contemporary world. With the integrated curriculum, the main emphasis is placed on problem-oriented learning guided by an experienced tutor in a small group of students. In this setting, a realistic medical case is used as a trigger for discussion aimed at linking basic science concepts with the clinical problem. Through collaborative problem-solving, students develop a clinical reasoning and team-working skills. Overall, problem-based learning puts forward a student-centred approach in a sense that students themselves are primarily responsible for identifying relevant learning objectives and self-guided acquisition of medical knowledge. This raises their motivation in learning basic sciences and markedly improves the perception of learning environment. In summary, the integrated curriculum offers a number of benefits to medical students and appears to provide an effective instrument in developing professional competencies required in clinical work

Single-crystal Fe-bearing sphalerite: synthesis, lattice parameter, thermal expansion coefficient and microhardness

© 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Sphalerite crystals (Fe,Zn)S containing up to 56 mol% of FeS have been synthesized by gas transport method and in molten salts in the temperature range 340–780 °C at various sulfur fugacities. It is shown that lattice parameter of Fe-bearing sphalerite changes with temperature and composition (x, mol% FeS in sphalerite) according to parabolic equation: a±0.0004/Å=(5.4099±0.0008)+(5.82±0.36)·10-4·x+(-4.7±0.6)·10-6·x2+(4.2±0.4)·10-5·(T-298.15K). This relationship is independent from synthesis temperature and sulfur fugacity. Temperature expansion coefficient is independent from temperature or composition of the sphalerite solid solution. It is shown that increase in Fe content of the synthesis charge leads to larger deviations between the target and real composition of the obtained crystals. Vickers microhardness of sphalerite increases in the composition range 0–1 mol% of FeS, has broad maximum in the range 1–5 mol% and decreases at higher Fe content

PENGEMBANGAN PERANCANGAN JARINGAN LOCAL AREA NETWORK (LAN) DI RSIA ANUGRAH MEDICAL CENTRE METRO

Penyampaian data dan informasi belum sistematis karena masih menggunakan media penyimpanan eksternal (flashdisk), pengembangan sistem jaringan dengan berbasis LAN (Local Area Network) guna membantu dalam masalah pengiriman data secara berkala dengan menggunakan layanan jaringan di RSIA Anugrah Medical Centre .Menggunakan metode yaitu menganalisis sistem jaringan yang sedang berjalan, mendesain sistem baru, merancang sistem dan yang terakhir pengujian sistem jaringan yang telah dirancang. Sistem informasi yang digunakan yaitu Local Area Network (LAN. jaringan ini digunakan untuk melakukan sharing data dan hardware. Perancangan LAN menggunakan media penghubung kabel UTP yang saling terkoneksi ke beberapa komputer melalui hub, hal ini untuk mempermudah komunikasi data yang berlangsung disana. Jaringan LAN juga diusahakan dapat terkoneksi ke internet melalui modem dengan pembagian bandwidth supaya pemakain data bisa digunakan secara optimal dan sesuai kebutuhan para pengguna. Dengan adanya jaringan Local Area Network (LAN), memiliki banyak manfaat yang dirasakan, salah satunya adalah penyampaian data dan informasi lebih muda

Современные возможности лапароскопической пластики мочепузырно-прямокишечного свища

Современные возможности лапароскопической пластики мочепузырно-прямокишечного свищ

Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases and Compartmentation in Normal and Diseased Heart

International audienceCyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs) degrade the second messengers cAMP and cGMP, thereby regulating multiple aspects of cardiac function. This highly diverse class of enzymes encoded by 21 genes encompasses 11 families which are not only responsible for the termination of cyclic nucleotide signalling, but are also involved in the generation of dynamic microdomains of cAMP and cGMP controlling specific cell functions in response to various neurohormonal stimuli. In myocardium, the PDE3 and PDE4 families are predominant to degrade cAMP and thereby regulate cardiac excitation-contraction coupling. PDE3 inhibitors are positive inotropes and vasodilators in human, but their use is limited to acute heart failure and intermittent claudication. PDE5 is particularly important to degrade cGMP in vascular smooth muscle, and PDE5 inhibitors are used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension. However, these drugs do not seem efficient in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. There is experimental evidence that these PDEs as well as other PDE families including PDE1, PDE2 and PDE9 may play important roles in cardiac diseases such as hypertrophy and heart failure. After a brief presentation of the cyclic nucleotide pathways in cardiac cells and the major characteristics of the PDE superfamily, this chapter will present their role in cyclic nucleotide compartmentation and the current use of PDE inhibitors in cardiac diseases together with the recent research progresses that could lead to a better exploitation of the therapeutic potential of these enzymes in the future

What is the Difference between Online Learning and Traditional Teaching in Medical Education?

The online learning, which is now widely implemented owing to the constraints imposed by COVID-19 pandemic, offers many advantages when compared to the traditional teaching. The online teaching course is available to student any time and can be accessed from any location, providing there is a connection to the Internet, which allows remote learning at home using a fl exible and convenient study schedule that does not disturb other daily activities. The online course contains more informative learning materials, because the multimedia software enables to combine a variety of diverse elements within a given teaching unit, such as texts, PowerPoint presentations, computer animations, video clips, and audio fi les. The amount of time needed to go through the topics of the online course can be variable for different students, depending on their basic knowledge and motivation for learning, thus supporting more personalized learning experience. In contrast to the traditional teaching, that applies a teacher-centered approach, with online teaching the students become independent learners taking the main responsibility for the knowledge acquisition. Therefore, the students’ ability to succeed with online learning is critically determined by the self-discipline, rational time management skills, and monitoring the individual progress. While traditional teaching is largely based on passive learning through memorization of information by student, the online course offers multiple opportunities for self-directed, active learning, including questions for self-assessment, the web links to the relevant learning resources, and the interaction with peers using text messengers, discussion forums and web chats. The weak points of the online learning approach are that the self-studies are easy to procrastinate when the student is not strongly motivated to learn, and that it limits social contacts, leading to the feeling of isolation. Importantly, when developing the online learning course, the computer technology is supposed to be just a technical instrument, whereas the main emphasis is placed on the quality of teaching materials and their relevance to the objectives of the medical curriculum

La Toque blanche : organe professionnel hebdomadaire des chefs de cuisine de France et de l'étranger

25 juin 19261926/06/25 (N87)